The jealousy grew rapidly in Jose’s thoughts, watching as Damen read the letter to himself. Julienne then exited the bathroom, with Vivian asking again, “So, what is it?”
“It’s an agent, a real, live talent agent. It says here, he wants me to come in his office and discuss my acting career. My God, an actual agent wants me as his client,” Damen responded as Julienne sat down on a chair directly facing him.
A lightbulb went off in Julienne’s mind as she stared at Damen’s cheerful image. She whispered into Jose’s ear, “I’ve got a plan, just go along with me.” She looked at Damen and said, “So, congratulations to you too, that’s why I came over here also. You see, me and Jose dropped that letter off here. You can say we both got you that agent.” She looked at Jose and then back at Damen. Julienne began to bite her nails, hoping that Damen would say the name of the agent.
“Really? You guys know Chester Freeman?”
“Well, I know him, me and Chester go back a long ways. Chester was one of my good friend’s agents. But Jose just met him,” Julienne replied as she thought in her mind, who the hell is Chester Freeman?
Julienne then spoke, “When you go in Chester’s office, do not mention anything about me getting you in. As a matter of fact, don’t mention me at all.”
“Why not?” asked Damen, getting up from the couch in a slow manner. “After all, if it wasn’t for you, then I wouldn’t have gotten this letter, and Jose wouldn’t have gotten in that February movie.”
Julienne went from improvising to literally talking out of her ass, saying, “Well, that’s the way Hollywood is, just trust me. You see, I wasn’t supposed to mention anything about me getting Chester for you; Chester wanted you to think he discovered you on his own. So, if you mention me and how I got you him, Chester will be furious at me.”
Damen showed confusion to his eyes, but then smiled, gave Julienne a big kiss on the forehead, and said, “Thank you, and I won’t mention a thing. So, how did you do it?”
“Well, um, Jose and I mentioned your name to him. Chester realized he already got a photo from you, and mainly that’s how it happened,” she responded, trying to pull more lies from her mind.
Jose finally caught on to her plan, the plan of not having Darell discuss the movie with Damen. He said, “Yeah, we discussed it with Chester last night at the dinner, even Darell knows.”
“What? You mean you saw Darell at the dinner?” Damen asked when suddenly they heard a knock at the door.
Knock, Knock, Knock.
“Yeah, he was all excited about it, that’s probably him right now. I bet he’s going to say congratulations to you right when you open the door,” Jose explained, smiling toward Julienne and crossing his fingers.
Damen got up quickly to answer the door. He opened it and heard, “Congratulations, Damen.”
Darell gave Damen a hug, and ran in the apartment, grasping onto Vivian and hugging her tight. “Hey, it’s Darell, everyone, we were just discussing matters that involved you,” spoke Damen.
Darell shook Jose’s hand, noticing his fingers were still crossed, and then asked with excitement, “So you heard already?”
Darell sat down next to Vivian, as Damen responded, “Yeah, I just found out about it today.”
“I’m telling you, Damen, it’s going to be great. I mean, me and you.”
Darell was suddenly interrupted by Julienne saying quickly, “You know, it’s bad luck to discuss future movies or anything to do with show business. How about we just discuss something else besides that?” She paused, thinking of what to say, and then turned to Vivian, adding, “Like Vivian’s acting career.”
Darell looked at Julienne in confusion, questioning, “You mean to tell me it’s bad luck to discuss this?”
“Yes, but it’s alright to discuss it when it happens. You see, if you discuss a movie that you’re going to act in before it begins filming, then it’s bad luck. But, during or after it begins filming, then it’s fine to discuss it. The same goes for a person getting an agent,” Julienne explained quickly. She tried to change the subject by asking again, “So, how’s your career doing, Vivian?”
“Oh, it’s doing great, I might be in a TV show this February,” answered Vivian, picking up Damen’s letter from the agent. “Hey, Damen, when does he want you to come in for the appointment?” she asked as Julienne crossed her fingers.
Darell realized the February movie was coming up pretty soon, so he answered for Damen, “He probably wants you to come in this week.”
Vivian handed Damen the letter while he spoke, “Yeah, that’s right, it says here in the letter that he wants me to come into his office on January 5.”
“See, I told you I was right,” said Darell.
“I don’t know why he wants me to come in so soon,” Damen stated. Suddenly, Julienne put out her hand toward the letter and grabbed it gently, looking at it closely.
Darell explained, “Well, after all, Damen, this February is...” when suddenly he was cut off by Jose.
Jose explained, “Yeah, this February is full of movies, so that’s why.” He turned to Julienne and saw that she gave a sigh of relief toward him, thanking him through her breath.
Julienne said in a high-pitched tone as Darell and Jose started to get up at the same time to use the bathroom, “I tell you what, how about we all go out for dinner tonight, that way it will get are minds off of discussing this any further. I don’t think we would want to draw bad luck upon Damen by discussing this.”
In the meantime, Jose and Darell raced to the bathroom, with Jose saying, “No man, I got to use the bathroom first, I’ve been holding this in all night and all day.”
“I beat you. Don’t worry, I’ll be right out,” said Darell, closing the bathroom door in Jose’s face.
Jose stood outside the door, doing a little dance that he felt would hold in his bladder, when suddenly he stopped fidgeting, noticing a sniffing noise coming from behind the door. He listened closely, calmly, without a sound, while Julienne, Damen and Vivian were discussing dinner plans. He then heard the sound of tapping on the sink. “Darell,” he said without even knocking on the door.
He knew it had to be cocaine or some kind of a drug, that’s when he slammed open the door and saw Darell sniffing antibiotics into his nose. “What the hell are you doing, Jose? I said I’ll be right out, I just have to take care of my sinuses,” Darell spoke as Jose realized he was wrong about the drug accusation he had against him.
“Oh, um, I’m sorry, but, um, I got to go bad.”
“Fine, fine, here, it’s all yours,” Darell said, putting his antibiotics into his pocket and walking out of the bathroom.
Jose pointed toward Darell’s pocket, questioning, “Why are you using that?”
“I got a stuffy nose, I already told you it’s for my sinuses, they’re acting up. Why else would I use it?” Darell grinned at him, and then continued to walk toward the couch.
Jose closed the door and looked directly into the mirror that had a crack in every corner of it. He turned on the water and began splashing it into his face; he was hoping the cold water would replenish and relieve the pressure he felt, and the anxiety Julienne created for him. Looking down at the sink, Jose noticed a little bit of a white substance on the corner of it. He looked at it and said, “Oh no, please, God, don’t let this be what I think it is.” He put the white substance onto his teeth and gums, noticed a tingling and numbing sensation, he then realized what the substance was: cocaine. “I wonder who this belongs to.” He then saw a little mirror on the sink, it had ‘Damen’ written in little letters at the bottom of it. He picked it up and discovered more of the white substance on it, saying in a low tone as he looked at Damen’s mirror, “Good, serves you right, Damen.” A grin appeared on his face, adding, “Now the lie about Damen doing drugs isn’t a lie anymore.” He then flushed the toilet, without even releasing any fluids from his system, and slowly walked out of the bathroom.
“Well, that was fast,” Darell said
with a grin. Jose sat down on the arm of the chair where Julienne was sitting and just smiled.
Julienne glared at Jose with serious eyes, explaining, “Well, we decided to go to a place that’s very exquisite and formal.”
Jose Rodrigo watched Darell as he sniffed his sinuses back up his nose. As he stared at him, he questioned, “Where is that?”
“It’s at the place where we met, the Starbox.”
“Yeah, I remember that place. That’s where me, Darell, and Damen went when we first came to Hollywood,” he stated before the memory of Julienne discussing on how Damen spread lies about him behind his back, came to his mind. That’s when he looked at Damen and said in a snotty voice, “Well, it’s a nice place, but I didn’t like it.”
“What are you talking about, Jose? Of course you liked it,” Damen spoke, looking at Jose in a confused manner. “That’s where you met Julienne, remember?”
“Yeah, I remember, but I still didn’t like it. Is that okay with you, Damen?” Jose asked in a snotty fashion; Julienne looked at him in nervousness. She knew Jose was just about ready to confront Damen about him talking behind his back.
“Yeah, it’s okay with me. What’s wrong with you? Are you upset with me or something?” questioned Damen.
Julienne spoke before Jose could open his mouth to answer him. “No, he’s not upset with you, Damen. He’s just tired from the dinner.” Damen looked at Jose in an even more confused way, even after Julienne explained his reasons.
“No, I know when Jose’s upset at me. And by the looks of it, he’s not upset, he’s pissed off at me for some reason or another.”
Jose remembered Julienne’s plan and to not bring up the matter about Damen talking behind his back. So, before Damen could say anything else, Jose’s acting began once again, saying, “No, Julienne’s right, I’m just tired is all.” He vowed in his black soul to go along with Julienne’s plan from now on, or at least till the contract is signed.
“Are you sure, Jose?”
“Yeah, Damen, I’m positive. Now, what time are we all going to this nightclub at? Let’s go early, because Darell’s leaving tomorrow.” Mr. Rodrigo remembered that Darell was only staying for twenty-four hours, after that, he was out of the picture.
“What? Why are you leaving so soon?” Damen asked. Julienne got ready to interrupt Darell, that is, if he brought up the movie again.
“Oh, I have to go for some photos in New York tomorrow, it’s for a magazine cover and I think an article too,” he answered.
“How long are you going to be gone for?”
“Well, I’m gonna be gone for awhile. After New York, I’m going to go straight to England,” Darell explained; Julienne prepared for the interruption.
Damen looked at him in a sad way, saying with disappointment, “Man, we’re not gonna see you for awhile then.”
“Well, they’re not, but you--” said Darell before Julienne interrupted his words.
“Well, Darell, what time do you think we should go to the club at?” Julienne asked as Darell turned his thoughts on her question and forgot about what he was discussing with Damen.
“Oh, it really doesn’t matter to me. How about we go at 6:00 p.m.?” Darell asked. “That way I could go to bed early tonight. I have to wake up early tomorrow, so I need my rest.”
Julienne tried to think up of another thing to discuss with him, so he wouldn’t bring up the movie to Damen again.
“Alright, that sounds like a good time. So, you guys want to play poker or scrabble?” Julienne mentioned with Jose looking at her in a confused gesture.
“No, not really,” Jose spoke. Julienne looked at him with widened eyes.
“Well, then what do you want to do?” She then winked her eye at Jose, trying to explain through her wink that Darell would try to mention the movie to Damen again, if they didn’t find something else to discuss.
Jose finally understood the wink, saying, “Oh, um, yeah, let’s play cards.”
“Alright, I’ll go get the cards,” said Damen, getting up and walking into his bedroom.
Jose lit up a cigarette when Vivian questioned, “What are we going to play?”
“How about Russian Roulette?” Jose’s question caused Julienne to look at him, giving a deep sigh as well.
“This is going to be a long day,” Julienne said in a low tone to Jose.
Damen returned to the room with an old batch of cards he had brought from home. “It’s going to be a very long day,” Jose said in a low tone also, seeing Damen beginning to deal the cards out. “My God.” Jose picked up one of the cards Damen passed to him and remembered these cards from Sugar Valley. “These are the cards we use to play with back home.”
“Yeah, could you believe I still have them with me?” Damen laughed out.
“You know something, Julienne, this is going to be a very long and traumatic day,” Jose mumbled to Julienne; she gave a little grunt, it meant she agreed.
“So, Darell, explain what it’s like to be a star in a movie,” said Vivian, gathering up each card that was passed to her.
Darell looked at all of them, smiled with glee, and responded, “Well, it goes like this.”
Chapter Forty
The evening was hot, perspiring like breathing was their habit, giggling, and full of liquor was their poison, and they exited the limo with the feeling that it was a normal night. Jose and Damen lifted Darell’s drunken body from out of the limo, having Darell giggling with laughter, and mumbling words of songs that came out of his mouth like air. “Boy, Darell’s wasted,” Damen said, holding onto Darell’s right arm, while Jose had his left. They walked away from Julienne’s limo, carrying their friend’s drunken body, with his feet dragging on the ground, scratching the ends of his shoes with sharp stones.
“Yeah, if it wasn’t for him punching that bartender, he would probably still be drinking now,” Jose stated.
Julienne and Vivian followed behind them, watching as they walked up the stairs to their apartment complex, gawking at these three gentlemen with their backs to them.
Jose and Damen both opened the door to their apartment building and started to drag Darell inside, when Vivian shouted, “Watch his head, guys.” Vivian’s warning was too late, Darell’s head hit against the apartment building’s front door, but he didn’t feel a thing.
“Sorry about that, Darell,” said Damen.
Darell laughed out loud, he thought it was funny that he felt a strong force, pressure hit against his head, shooting it back, but not feeling a bit of pain that should have followed.
Damen looked at Darell while they were both carrying him down the hallway, he felt sorry for him, and sorry because he was so helpless; Damen had never seen, or never thought he would see, Darell like this.
When they all approached their apartment door, Jose looked back at Julienne and gave her a small grin, a grin that meant the plan was complete. Vivian noticed the grin that shined off of Jose’s face, and that’s when Jose’s eyes came into contact with hers. He turned his head around quickly while Vivian stared at his back in suspicion. Vivian turned her head away from Jose’s back and looked at Julienne; Julienne looked down at the floor when she saw Vivian’s head turning to face her, she saw it out of her peripheral vision. Vivian turned away from Julienne and faced Jose’s back again while the suspicion grew rapidly in her mind. Before Vivian could open up her mouth and ask Jose why he grinned toward Julienne, Damen accidentally knocked Darell’s head into the door. “Sorry about that, Darell.”
“Damen, I don’t think he could understand you right now,” Jose spoke as Vivian kept on staring at his back.
Damen tried to find his keys to the apartment with one hand and balance Darell’s arm in his other, when suddenly he questioned, “Vivian, could you get the door for us?”
She unlocked the door, and whipped it open, looking in and saying, “There you go, home sweet home.”
Damen and Jose entered into the darkened apartment, feeling around the walls with their
free hands, guiding themselves toward the couch with their night vision. They both dropped Darell on the couch like a feather, looking at his silhouette through the streetlights from the outside window, when Damen suddenly spoke, “I’ve never seen someone drink that much.”
Vivian turned on the room lights, seeing Julienne walking over to the couch and saying, “Well, he was just enjoying himself, I guess.” Jose lit up a cigarette and gave a smirk at Julienne’s comment, finding it amusing and bloody intriguing at the same time.
Damen and Vivian left the room and walked over to their own bedrooms. Before Damen shut the door, he looked at Jose and Julienne, saying, “We’ll be right back, we’re just going to change into our nightcaps.”
Once the door shut, the conversation began between Jose and Julienne. Mr. Rodrigo blew smoke out of his mouth that resembled a circle, straight toward Darell, and said with a smile, “You’re a genius, Julienne. Do you think Damen and Vivian suspected anything? I mean, all through the dinner you were only offering and buying Darell drinks. They must suspect something.”
“Who cares if they suspect anything? The point is, we prevented him from talking to Damen about the movie,” she replied in a low tone, looking at Darell’s sealed eyelids and his drool dripping down to the couch cushion. “All we have to do now is prevent him tomorrow from talking about it. I think it’s going to be easy. After all, we’re just going to see him at the airport for about a half an hour.”
“Yeah, after that, I just have to wait till Saturday to do the screen test and then sign the contract,” Jose stated, giving a disgusted face toward Darell’s drool. “That’s sick.” He wiped some of the saliva away from Darell’s mouth with a cloth, and showed Julienne that he still cares for him like a brother.
So, once Jose threw the saliva-stricken cloth behind the couch, Julienne wanted him to remember why he was so drunk, and why they were here in the first place. She asked, “So, are you excited about Saturday?”
“Oh yeah, did you notice how I was bragging about my movie to Damen? Do you think he got jealous of it?” Jose questioned; his face had an evil grin upon it.
Sugar Valley (Hollywood's Darkest Secret) Page 41